The mobility and the convenience of wireless Internet connection makes this technology preferable to anything we’ve used before. DSL is the abbreviated form from digital subscriber line and it represents a type of Internet connection service available to a user using cable modem and wireless router. In case you have a pre-configured DSL wireless modem, you have to buy a DSL wireless router too, meaning that the connection has to be the same. A DSL Internet connection cannot match a router designed for cable connection. There are nevertheless devices that match both. You just have to check this feature carefully when buying such a device.

A pretty common design of DSL wireless router includes four LAN ports that allow the connection of four wired hosts such as desktops, peripherals, laptops and handhelds. A switch will be required for the connection of more wired devices. In order for the computers to be connected without cables to the DSL wireless router they have to include wireless LAN cards, either external or built-in. The connection between the DSL wireless router and the computers in the network will take place through the radio waves sent by the router’s antennae to the PC LAN cards.

Before you purchase a router, you need to find out the wireless standard that corresponds to the data transfer speed of the network. 802.11g represents the average standard used, and it corresponds to what we know as Wi-Fi with a speed of 54 mega-bytes per second. 801.11n is the newest standard, and it has an incredibly high transfer rate of 540 Mbps. When the DSL wireless router and the computer’s wireless network card follow the same networking standard, you will have a good wireless LAN and WAN connection.

Data security is another issue that should concern you for wireless network compatibility. The security of your data should be the primary concern when purchasing routers. Thus, the device should follow the Wired Equivalent Privacy features which allow for Wi-Fi Protected Access or WPA. Thus the data transmitted over radio signals gets encrypted following a protocol that keeps it totally safe.

The DSL wireless router comes with an external or an internal antenna, depending on the model. Even if you have already purchased a DSL wireless router with a built-in antenna you can still attach an external one to it so as to enhance the signal reception. Don’t make a purchase without checking all the functions of the router; find out if the device can also work as a switch or hub and see if it has supplementary firewalls.

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